The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the secretariat located in Bonn, Germany, are arranging the United Nations climate change conference in early december in Copenhagen, Denmark. The conference will address climate change and issues associated with it for each country. The aim of the conference is to bring countries into agreement over the elements of climate change to develop a strategic, long-term initiative to curb climate change.[1]

Contents

Council of Parties (COP)

Timeline for the previous Conference of the Parties - the COPs

Some of the conferences of the parties under the Climate Change Convention have been of greater significance than others in that they have sown the seeds for or achieved significant results for limiting climate change. Here is a list of the main ones.

1995 - Berlin
The Conference of the Parties in Berlin (COP1) was the first after the Climate Change Convention went into force. The parties decided to initiate negotiations for what later came to be known as the Kyoto Protocol. The goal for COP1 was that countries should take on legally binding obligations for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

1997 - Kyoto
After difficult negotiations, in particular between the EU and the USA, the Kyoto Protocol was passed at the third Conference of the Parties (COP3).

2000 - The Hague
At the sixth conference (COP6) in The Hague, negotiations collapsed. Amongst other reasons, this was due to insoluble disagreement between the EU and the USA. Afterwards, President George Bush declared in the spring of 2001 that the USA would not ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

2001 - Bonn and Marrakech
To get the process moving again after the collapse in The Hague, the UN Climate Change Secretariat (IPCCC) called an extraordinary conference of the parties in Bonn (COP6 bis) in the spring. At this conference, and at the following one in Marrakech (COP7), the remaining countries succeeded in agreeing on most of the outstanding questions.

2002 - Delhi
Under the Danish presidency of the EU, the EU tried unsuccessfully at the eighth conference (COP8) to get the ministers to agree to a declaration about the need for further initiatives to limit climate change.

2003 - Milan
The focus of the ninth conference in Milan (COP9) was finding technical clarifications for some of the outstanding issues remaining from Marrakech. It concerned, for example, to what extent the giving off and absorption of CO2 in soil and forests should be calculated, and how the Flexibility Mechanisms Joint Implementation (JI), the international quota trade as well as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) should be put together.

2004 - Buenos Aires
In Buenos Aires, the parties worked further at finding technical solutions, just as they also started informal discussions about what should happen after 2012. The conference of the parties in Buenos Aires was the tenth under the Climate Change Convention (COP10).

2005 - Montreal
When the parties met for the eleventh conference in Montreal (COP11), it was to ensure that there would be an international agreement for after 2012. Agreement was reached that the process would continue on two tracks. The first was a global dialogue about a future long-term climate co-operation with all countries participating, including the USA and the large developing countries (China, India, Brazil, etc.). The second was concrete negotiations under the Kyoto Protocol about industrialised countries' obligations after 2012.

2006 - Nairobi
The positive momentum from Montreal to start work towards a new binding agreement for after 2012 was maintained at the twelfth conference of the parties in Nairobi (COP12). At the same time, a series of milestones for a forthcoming agreement were set, just as a series of outstanding issues in the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol were finalised.

2007 - Bali
In Bali (COP13), the Parties reached an accord - the Bali Roadmap, concerning the future process towards signing an agreement at the conference in Copenhagen (COP15). Furthermore, it was agreed that an Adjustment Fund would be established, which would help developing countries in adjusting to climate changes.

2008 - Poznan
COP 14 in Poznan, Poland

2009 - Copenhagen

Expert Group on Technology Transfer(EGTT)

Terms of reference of the expert group on technology transfer

The expert group on technology transfer shall have the objectives of enhancing the implementation of Article 4, paragraph 5, of the Convention and advancing the technology transfer activities under the Convention.

The expert group on technology transfer shall analyse and identify ways to facilitate and advance technology transfer activities, including those identified in the annex to the decision 4/CP.7 (Development and transfer of technologies), and make recommendations to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).

The expert group on technology transfer shall report on its work each year and propose a programme of work for the following year for decision by the SBSTA.

The members of the expert group on technology transfer shall be nominated by Parties for a period of two years and be eligible to serve two consecutive terms. The SBSTA shall ensure that half of the members of the expert group nominated initially shall serve for a period of three years, taking into account the need to maintain the overall balance of the group. Every year thereafter, half of the members shall be nominated for a period of two years. Appointment pursuant to paragraph 5 shall count as one term. The members shall remain in office until their successors are nominated. The members from three relevant international organizations shall serve on an issue-oriented basis.

If a member of the expert group on technology transfer resigns or is otherwise unable to complete the assigned term of office or to perform the functions of that office, the expert group may decide, bearing in mind the proximity of the next session of the Conference of the Parties, to request the group that had nominated the member to nominate another member to replace the said member for the remainder of that member’s mandate. In such a case, the expert group shall take into account any views expressed by the group that had nominated the member.

The expert group on technology transfer shall annually elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman from among its members, with one being a member from a Party included in Annex I and the other being a member from a Party not included in Annex I. The positions of Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall alternate annually between a member from a Party included in Annex I and a member from a Party not included in Annex I.

The members of the expert group on technology transfer shall serve in their personal capacity and shall have expertise in any of the following areas, inter alia, greenhouse gas mitigation and adaptation technologies, technology assessments, information technology, resource economics, or social development.